Is gambling a business venture or a death trap? Nowadays, it is a common thing to find youths gathered in betting shops trying their luck by placing monetary bets.
In most cases, the majority of these youths end up losing their money. As much as betting is being portrayed as a remedy to unemployment, in reality, it is dangerous and highly addictive.
As a recovered gambler, I can say, betting is a serious sickness, a sickness that can only be cured by oneself. I used to visit a cyber cafe in Eldoret every day, stone-faced glued to my computer, with my colleagues.
We were mostly in our 20s, some early 30s, the type that ought to be attending college, or if they are working, should be at their respective workplaces.
I now reflect, it is mid-morning on a weekday, the cybercafé computers are all occupied and we are not on the Internet doing research for a term paper, collecting data, compiling a literature review, or cleaning up our CVs; we are busy placing bets on football games being played miles away, mostly in European cities.
Read: Sportpesa, 96 Betting Companies In Kenya Lose Licences
I lost every day. Convinced that the following day would be better than the previous one, I would place my bet again and again. I would lose day after day, week after week, and month after month.
Just when I was on the verge of dropping out of university due to lack of school fees that I misappropriated to betting, I woke up to my senses.
I was lucky, I salvaged myself. It could have been worse. At the end of my betting mania, I had lost thousands of shillings.
“That money was never meant to be mine” I convinced myself. From my experience, gambling results in dire consequences.
First, loss of property – Approximately, 500,000 Youths in Kenya are blacklisted by CRB, according to the ministry of
interior. They owe loans to various firms, following the loss of money through betting. Others result to taking soft loans from family and friends leaving them with debts they cannot afford.
Read:2 Million Kenyans Blacklisted On CRB
Second, hopelessness mainly because they got lured into betting and lost money. People end up selling household items in an effort to win jackpots but end up losing.
It also leads to destruction of friendships and family ties – Close ties are broken when people take loans from friends and family without being able to clear the debts.
Last but not least suicide – In extreme cases, youths end up committing suicide after losing their money on bets. We have had several cases of university students taking their own lives after losing bets.
In conclusion, online sports betting has become an economic catastrophe that is driving young men into huge debt, getting them blacklisted by payday loans, and ruining their family lives.
The government and other stakeholders should address ways of regulating gambling before we plunge our society into a haul.
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